I am Malala

Malala lived in Pakistan and values education for everyone - especially girls. Her grandfather was a religious figure, while her father was an educator. Her hometown became infiltrated by the Taliban, who spread talk that appealed to the un-educated with faux-traditional religious values. She had became a spokesperson for the rights of all people for education, and thus became a target for the fundamentalists (even after the Taliban control had been supposedly removed.) One day they shot her. She received some of the top medical care in Pakistan. However, the conditions in the ICU afterwards were not great. Luckily, there were some British doctors present, and she was sent off to England to recover.
Her story shows the intersection of education and traditional cultural and religious beliefs. It is possible to be well educated, and still adhere to a traditional religion. We often see the baby thrown out with the bathwater as educated people appear to abandon religion altogether, leading to cultural wars. Her case shows a more surgical adoption of the religious teachings without the cultural baggage. (The Taliban, however, would often advocate for a "strict" religious interpretation based more on perceived historical practices than actual religious teachings.) It does pose an interesting question. Is the religious doctrine really what is important to people, or is it just used as a means of expressing what is really important: cultural conformity?
The early descriptions of life in Pakistan are also interesting. It is still very tribal. There was an interesting case of a society that would switch lands every 5 years. This would prevent people from worrying about who got the better land. But, it also disincentived taking care of the land and planting fruit trees. Despite being a fairly conservative Muslim country, Pakistan was one of the first countries to have a female leader. However, the country has also had multiple military coups, and people have a strong distrust of the government.